NCAA reaches a key moment as transgender laws multiply

The NCAA’s statement on transgender sports bans was “carefully worded,” Weaver said, “and I think it’s a tenuous time to be taking any kind of stance that might be viewed as political because they’re trying to craft their future in the Congress and Senate with the NIL legislation.”

“They’re trying to not tick off any potential folks who might vote for something that benefits the NCAA the most,” Weaver said.

Jeff Altier, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee chairman and the athletic director at Stetson, said last month that his committee had been given no directive to exclude any school from consideration for hosting a regional.

Altier referred other questions to the NCAA. Gail Dent, spokeswoman for the Board of Governors, did not respond to questions about the NCAA’s willingness to pull events out of states with bans.

“It’s surprising the NCAA would say one thing, that they are monitoring it, and then select site locations that are in areas of the country that are doing anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ legislation,” said Shane Windmeyer, founder and executive director of Campus Pride, a national organization advocating for safer college environments for LGBT students.

Windmeyer said the NCAA’s Office of Inclusion has been an ally. He said Campus Pride and similar organizations have received grants from the NCAA to fund diversity and inclusion summits and other programming.